LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 21:4 April 2021
ISSN 1930-2940

Editors:
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         T. Deivasigamani, Ph.D.
         Pammi Pavan Kumar, Ph.D.
         Soibam Rebika Devi, M.Sc., Ph.D.

Managing Editor & Publisher: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.

Celebrate India!
Unity in Diversity!!

HOME PAGE

Click Here for Back Issues of Language in India - From 2001

BOOKS FOR YOU TO READ AND DOWNLOAD FREE!

REFERENCE MATERIALS

BACK ISSUES

  • E-mail your articles and book-length reports in Microsoft Word to languageinindiaUSA@gmail.com.

  • PLEASE READ THE GUIDELINES GIVEN IN HOME PAGE IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE LIST OF CONTENTS.

  • Your articles and book-length reports should be written following the APA, MLA, LSA, or IJDL Stylesheet.

  • The Editorial Board has the right to accept, reject, or suggest modifications to the articles submitted for publication, and to make suitable stylistic adjustments. High quality, academic integrity, ethics and morals are expected from the authors and discussants.

Copyright © 2020
M. S. Thirumalai

Publisher: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
11249 Oregon Circle
Bloomington, MN 55438
USA
Custom Search

Covid 19 and lockdowns - Use of the Language of Religion for Survival –
Focus on Elderly Sindhis in Sindh, Pakistan

Ameer Ali, M.Phil. Scholar and Prof. Maya Khemlani David

Abstract

Language performs different roles, such as a tool of communication, identity development, and transmitting information. Researchers have studied the roles of languages in different contexts. In the wake of the Covid-19 and the new normal many people used language to comfort and console each other against the backdrop of the ensuing lockdowns. While awaiting the Covid-19 vaccine, language became an effective source of security for the pandemic affected world. Against this backdrop this research paper studies how the language of religion and faith helped elderly Sindhis in Pakistan’s Sindh province to survive and be resilient during these lockdowns. Qualitative analysis of the purposively collected data from social media and interviews with senior Sindhis in Sindh was used to demonstrate how the respondents used faith-based language to survive the lockdowns. Interviews of 11 senior citizens - aged between 60 and 80 - were analyzed using Harrington’s (2010) concept of faith and healing, and National Institute on Aging’s concept of social isolation (2019) were used to discuss how humans use their language as a security tool against a crisis. Additionally, Austin’s (2005) speech acts theory was used to analyse the research findings.

Keywords: Covid-19, elderly, healing, lockdowns, speech acts.

1. Introduction

Language performs different functions for human beings, such as communication, identity development and transmission of information. In the wake of the Covid-19, language users have come to discover new roles of human language and one of these roles can be identified as securitizing human beings using the language of faith and religion against the pandemic. Although researchers have explored different functions of human language in different contexts, the role that faith-based language is currently playing in securing human beings against the pandemic-induced social isolation is yet to be explored. During the lockdown, people, especially the elderly, have taken to religious faith and worship as tools to guard themselves against the impending pandemic. Therefore, it is the aim of this research work to bring to light how the elderly in Pakistan’s Sindh province are using language as a tool of security while awaiting the Covid-19 vaccine.

In Sindh, the Covid-19-induced lockdown was imposed on 23rd March 2020 (International Crisis Group, 2020) and lifted partially in August 2020 (The News, 2020). During the lockdown period, the vulnerable communities in Sindh, especially the elderly of the lower middle class, suffered more due to social isolation. Their social deprivation and closure of means of income compounded their problems, and they ultimately resorted to their religious practices and faith as a last refuge.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Ameer Ali
Postgraduate Researcher (M.Phil.)
University of Sindh, Jamshoro, Sindh, Pakistan
ameer7037@gmail.com

Maya Khemlani David
Honorary Professor
Asia-Europe Institute
University of Malaya
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
mayadavid@yahoo.com
Custom Search
  • Click Here to Go to Creative Writing Section

  • Send your articles
    as an attachment
    to your e-mail to
    languageinindiaUSA@gmail.com.
  • Please ensure that your name, academic degrees, institutional affiliation and institutional address, and your e-mail address are all given in the first page of your article. Also include a declaration that your article or work submitted for publication in LANGUAGE IN INDIA is an original work by you and that you have duly acknowledged the work or works of others you used in writing your articles, etc. Remember that by maintaining academic integrity we not only do the right thing but also help the growth, development and recognition of Indian/South Asian scholarship.